Sun God 2023: A Patchwork But Enjoyable Ride

When UC San Diego’s Associated Students’ Concerts & Events (ASCE) announced this year’s lineup for 2023’s iteration of the annual Sun God music festival, much of the student body expressed hesitant excitement. The festival’s headliners, Dayglow and Smino, were well known, amassing more than six million and four million listeners, respectively, on Spotify. The event’s three openers, Boys World, Khai Dreams, and Knock2 have their own smaller niche followings. Boys World, a girl band formed as an American response to K-pop, were the first performers, which excited fans of their energetic and choreographed performance style. Knock2, a San Diego-based DJ, drummed up anticipation in the EDM scene, while Lofi Hip-Hop artist Khai Dreams offered a chill, laid-back counterpoint to Knock2.

Similar to Horizon, ASCE’s two-day nighttime winter concert, which took place this March, the lineup reflected ASCE’s desire to have something for everyone, with a patchwork of musicians across a myriad of genres. While the student body leveled much criticism at this approach, it is, unfortunately, the inherent nature of a university-hosted, free music festival. One genre niche can’t be the only one represented, so the challenge that ASCE is tasked with is finding the right combination of artists to appeal to as many people as possible.

The day of the festival, May 13th, was overcast and cloudy, as if in direct defiance of Sun God’s summery name. So it was with some trepidation that I set out into what seemed to be a rainy morning. The intimidating security presence, which was starkly visible and advertised last year, was less apparent, making the crowd feel more comfortable. Students enjoyed themselves, discussing the ongoing Eurovision competition in the ever-growing line before we were let into Rimac Field.

Boys World was welcomed by hesitant cheers as the crowd trickled in and quickly drew a small audience. Wearing matching baggy jeans and dancing across the stage, their performance was charismatic and a perfect intro to the festival. The Los Angeles-based group launched into sugary, exciting tracks like “Girlfriends” and “Mantrum,” which got people bouncing and brought a quiet crowd to cheers as they danced and interacted with the crowd like the professional performers they are. While the performance was excellent and well-chosen, the group had a disappointingly short amount of time to perform, and at the end of the 25-minute set, it felt like they were just getting started.

Khai Dreams came on after Boys World. In contrast to the flashy glitter of their group, Khai Dreams was inconspicuous. Wandering onto the stage in an unzipped hoodie, shaggy bangs covering their face, it was hard to tell whether they were about to perform or if they were about to set up. Their performance was laid-back, and the soft hip-hop they performed was enjoyable, but after the energy high of Boys World, it felt like the crowd had been placed on a come-down just as the festival was starting. Dreams would occasionally interrupt their performance with funny and modest interludes. At one point, they asked in horror if the crowd could see them on the two massive screens which flanked the stage. Little jokes like this kept the crowd invested, but I couldn’t help but feel like I had gone from a high-energy show to a lofi study session.

Coming off of the tranquil sounds of Khai Dreams, the frenetic and intense house of  Knock2 was a shocking but welcome transition. Knock2, a veteran San Diego performer, hit the ground running, launching his set by playing a non-stop litany of remixes with a heavenly loud bass cranked high enough that you could feel it in your stomach from halfway across the field.

House remixes of hype hits like Ice Spice’s “Munch” and her collaboration with PinkPantheress “Boy’s a Liar pt. 2,” Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby” and “Old Town Road” melded hip-hop elements with hyper pop into an EDM milieu that got the heart pumping and started a mosh pit, which I didn’t expect to see at Sun God.

While Knock2 may very well have been my favorite act of the festival, coming as a pleasant surprise inspiring an infamously reserved student body to cram against the stage in a roiling mass, there was a certain dissonance to the daylit, warm vibe that ASCE tries to inspire with Sun God and the heavy-hitting music of Knock2.

Knock2’s was a show I expected to see at Soma or a night rave somewhere, leaving me a bit perplexed about what exactly Sun God is now. In their hesitance to push the festival into the night, as it was in past years, Sun God has lost some of its wilder, more mature feel.

Since its inception in 1983, the Sun God festival’s lineup grew from one performer to an astonishing twenty in 2009 before steadily declining in the years since. This year, the festival sported five performers, but it’s hard not to wonder what the experience was like before, and why there’s been such a downtick in the size of the festival’s lineups as it shifts to a shorter, afternoon experience.

After Knock2, people milled around, house fans dissipating as fans of Dayglow’s indie pop rushed to secure prime spots near the stage. When Dayglow—real name Sloan Struble—stepped out on stage, he waved to the crowd, a beaming smile on his lips. Struble’s stage presence and charisma were astounding, and as he launched into his first poppy song, the crowd cheered. The band’s sound is perfect for a festival like Sun God, evoking the sort of sweet summer energy reminiscent of a rose-tinted road trip movie.

Struble’s indie-pop sound can quickly devolve into something uninteresting when it’s performed without the enthusiasm it necessitates, but he brought a consummate enjoyment and vibrant energy to his performance that can’t help but bring a smile to your lips.

The last to perform was Smino, a genuine artist who embodies the notion of living life to the fullest through laid-back and sanguine rhythm and lyrics. His unique, collaborative, and self-confident vibe brought a rolling crowd of students from the far reaches of the RIMAC field. His onstage presence with his DJ, centered beneath a colorful array of digital visuals—which would switch between the audience and parts of Smino’s music videos—added to the ambiance. His performance was one of the best at the festival as his stage presence, crowd attraction, and musical genius melded in a summeresque experience despite the reluctant weather. Students sang along, put two hands in the air on his command, and jumped excitedly at Smino’s electrified “JUMP!” The positive, honest, and carefree pulse of Smino’s songs from his latest album was reflected in all who attended and brought the crowd together in celebration.

As his popular and tuneful song, “Netflix & Dusse,” which nearly everyone knew the lyrics to, came to an end, he let the crowd wind down for a moment. He leveled with us, explaining how although he had just arrived in San Diego after being in Europe the night before, his lack of sleep wouldn’t stop the party he had planned for Sun God. He got a loud cheer from the crowd as he stated just how beautiful San Diego was and asked us all to give a wave and yell to his mother, who often asked “where he was.” The crowd laughed and smiled at the sweet homage to his mother, before he got everyone riled up again by proclaiming a hype contest asking whether the “left” or “right” side of the stage could be louder. Let’s just say, both sides were eager to win. As the games came to end, Smino hopped right back to spitting lyrics that had hundreds of heads bouncing in unison. He closed this year’s Sun God Festival with unforgettable energy that will definitely echo into future events.

Tate McFadden is the Arts and Culture Editor and Opinion Editor for The Triton. Francesca Fox is a writer-at-large for The Triton.

Correction: This article was updated at 11:20 a.m. on May 28 to fix a spelling error. This article was updated at 2:45 p.m. on May 29 to add credits. Upon request by ASCE, Horizon’s description was changed from a “music festival” to a “two-day nighttime winter concert” at 2:40 p.m. on June 7.